The U.S. citizenship test is being revised, prompting concerns from immigrants and advocates about potential disadvantages for those with limited English skills. Undergoing a months-long process that requires years of legal permanent residency, individuals seeking citizenship face apprehension due to the 2020 test changes made by the previous administration, which increased its difficulty and length. President Joe Biden subsequently signed an executive order to remove barriers to citizenship and revert to the previous 2008 version.
Scheduled for release next year, the updated test, however, has been deemed necessary by U.S. authorities after 15 years.
What are the changes that are expected?
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is likely to adds a speaking section to to the test. For the exam, an officer would show photos of everyday scenarios and ask the applicant to verbally describe the photos. Currently, the speaking ability is assessed with the officer asking personal questions the applicant
For me, I think it would be harder to look at pictures and explain them,” said Heaven Mehreta, who immigrated from Ethiopia 10 years ago, passed the naturalization test in May to become an US citizen, as quoted AP.
Mehreta, 32, said she learned English as an adult after moving to the U.S. and found pronunciation to be very difficult.
Meanwhile, Shai Avny, who immigrated from Israel five years ago and became a U.S. citizen last year, asserted that the new format will likely increase the stress level of the applicants.
“Sitting next to someone from the federal government, it can be intimidating to talk and speak with them. Some people have this fear anyway. When it’s not your first language, it can be even more difficult. Maybe you will be nervous and you won’t find the words to tell them what you need to describe,” Avny said. “It’s a test that will determine if you are going to be a citizen. So there is a lot to lose.”
The proposed change to the U.S. history and government civics section would involve switching from the current oral short-answer format to multiple-choice questions. This change has been suggested to increase the difficulty level of the test and require a broader knowledge base.
For instance, instead of simply asking the applicant to name a war fought by the U.S. in the 1900s, they would need to choose the correct answer from a list of options, such as World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, or Gulf War, Bill Bliss, a citizenship textbook author in Massachusetts, cited
But in the proposed multiple-choice format, the applicant would read that question and select the correct answer from the following choices:
A. Civil War
B. Mexican-American War
C. Korean War
D. Spanish-American War
The applicant must know all five of the wars fought by the U.S. in the 1900s in order to select the one correct answer, Bliss said, and that requires a “significantly higher level of language proficiency and test-taking skill.”
Currently, the applicant must answer six out of 10 civics questions correctly to pass. Those 10 questions are selected from a bank of 100 civics questions. The applicant is not told which questions will be selected but can see and study the 100 questions before taking the test.
More than 1 million people became U.S. citizens in fiscal year 2022 — one of the highest numbers on record since 1907, the earliest year with available data — and USCIS reduced the huge backlog of naturalization applications by over 60% compared to the year before, according to a USCIS report also released in December.